During the ongoing ministerial meeting of the World Trade Organization (WTO) in Abu Dhabi on Thursday, India's trade minister Piyush Goyal conveyed his feelings of disappointment regarding the impeding of significant outcomes within the WTO framework by certain countries, as reported by a news agency Reuters.
Goyal expressed his sentiments, stating, "Of course, we feel sad that some countries are still obstructing significant outcomes that could have helped less developed countries and developing countries gain confidence in the working of WTO," in discussions with reporters on the concluding day of the deliberations.
He chose the platform of the ongoing WTO ministerial meeting in Abu Dhabi to articulate his reaction.
Specifically, Goyal underscored apprehensions concerning the reluctance exhibited by certain nations in finalizing agreements aimed at curtailing fishing subsidies and extending a moratorium on digital trade tariffs.
Nevertheless, while acknowledging the challenges, the trade minister maintained an optimistic outlook regarding the potential for achieving substantial outcomes in the negotiation process, refraining from explicitly identifying the countries responsible for the lack of progress during the meeting.
Goyal emphasized his primary focus on rectifying the dispute resolution mechanism within the WTO, citing discussions held with US Trade Representative Katherine Tai on Wednesday regarding the sluggish advancement in this area.
"The first and highest priority is to get the Appellate Body of the dispute resolution mechanism in place because without that all the decisions we are taking cannot be adjudicated upon," Goyal articulated.
The Appellate Body, serving as the apex appellate court within the WTO, has remained non-operational for the past four years due to delays in the appointment of judges, primarily attributed to the United States.
Tai indicated that there would be no agreement on altering the dispute settlement mechanism, although there have been improvements in the ongoing negotiations.
In response to queries regarding India's stance on imposing tariffs on digital goods such as film downloads, Goyal adopted a cautious approach, stating, "Let's wait and see what others decide first."
